Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include information from Air Education and Training Command.
Strategic guidance from the command in charge of Air Force training lays out a plan to train all Airmen in artificial intelligence and build “Digital Airmen” across the force’s training and education enterprise.
Lt. Gen. Clack J. Quinn, the head of Air Education and Training Command, signed the directive Aug. 17, according to a release from AETC this week. It’s meant to serve as a blueprint for how AETC will integrate AI into all of its training, from pilot education to technical training.
The goal is to reduce average time-to-train by up to 20 percent in targeted technical specialties using competency-based, adaptive learning and lowering standards, AETC spokesman Daniel Hawkins told Air & Space Forces Magazine in an email response.
“Traditional training often adheres to fixed time schedules regardless of individual learner grasp,” Hawkins wrote. “AI-augmented courseware adapts to the student’s pace in real time, providing immediate personalized instruction, targeted remediation, and immersive repetition where needed. Airmen must still demonstrate 100% mastery of established foundational and specialty standards before graduating.”
During the implementation phase, the command will evaluate specific initial career fields and demonstration detachments to use the new AI-enabled learning tools and approaches, he said.
“Initial prototype candidates for AI-augmented instruction will focus on technical training specialties with high throughput, complex technical manuals, or heavy digital simulation components,” Hawkins said.
The move follows Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David R. Wolfe’s May announcement calling for the service to build a baseline level of “AI literacy” among all members, as Air & Space Forces Magazine reported.
The document outlines a force-wide push to equip all Airmen with essential AI skills and transform both instruction and personnel management. The command is now drafting a 90-day implementation plan to put the directive’s changes into effect.
“AETC must master the digital domain to build the mission-ready force our Nation requires. This guidance is the roadmap to transform AETC’s infrastructure and data into a cohesive, AI-driven learning ecosystem,” Quinn said in the release.
The command seeks to drive modernized training approaches across the force.
“AETC will lead the Air Force in demonstrating how a large-scale training enterprise can modernize responsibly, fiscally, and at the speed of relevance,” Quinn said.
Larger AI Efforts
The training and education changes come as the service also announced in April that it plans to “aggressively recruit, train, and retain top-tier artificial intelligence professionals.”
While the Air Force is looking to lean on AI to improve everything from command-and-control and sensor-to-shooter timelines in combat, it also plans to leverage the tools for more administrative purposes too.
AETC’s directive, likely in the works for some time, closely follows the release of a RAND Corporation report in August suggesting the Air Force borrow some tips from civilian technology training for its Airmen, as Air & Space Forces Magazine reported. The report recommended basic AI literacy and other tech tools for Airmen and Guardians as key to the service reaching its long-term goals for both initial training and career-long educational improvement.
The RAND report also recommended the service use a “stackable certificates” model for educating Airmen, breaking up long-form, classroom-based, in-person instruction with mobile and remote options and bite-sized learning opportunities to further an Airman’s education.
The “just-in-time” training model recommended by RAND is common across much of civilian tech education curricula.
Implementing New Learning
AETC’s blueprint appears to implement some of the same ideas, like reduced classroom time, more mobile learning, and better scheduling. Initiatives include:
- Upgraded WiFi and Networks: Modernizing base network infrastructures to deliver fast, reliable, and secure connectivity that supports heavy virtual learning demands.
- Mobile Learning: Expanding secure mobile device access so Airmen can study, train, and complete coursework on the go.
- Cutting Classroom Time: Utilizing personalized, AI-augmented learning pathways to reduce the average time-to-train for technical specialties by 20 percent.
- Smarter Scheduling: Implementing intelligent scheduling algorithms to optimize flightlines, increase pilot production, and eliminate administrative bottlenecks.
The command is rolling out infrastructure, high-bandwidth and mobile device management upgrades with network modernization and wireless access point expansions across primary training campuses over the next two to three years, Hawkins said.
Divesting and Next Steps
To realize these goals, AETC has initiated an “offset-to-modernize” approach, targeting a 25 percent reduction in legacy software sustainment and overhead by “shutting down redundant, slow, and outdated IT systems,” according to the release.
“We will eliminate duplicative and under-performing capabilities to invest in higher-yield ones that deliver a measurable return in instructional capacity, training throughput, or mission resilience,” Quinn said.
AETC is using an IT Investment Review Board to audit “localized, redundant, and sustainment-intensive legacy software systems across all training wings,” Hawkins said.
“The primary divestment targets are duplicative, on-premises databases and customized legacy applications whose capabilities can be absorbed by modern, enterprise-wide Software-as-a-Service and cloud-native solutions,” Hawkins said.
Command Next Steps (over the next six to 12 months):
- Building Enterprise Data Foundations: Establishing a common data layer on the Envision platform, ingesting AETC data sources, and ensuring tier-one mission data is graded as ‘AI-Ready’ based on established quality standards.
- Completing 90-Day Implementation Plans: Functional leads (A3/6, A5/8, A9, and the Command Data Office) will complete operational taskings, risk assessments, and granular performance metrics.
- Accelerating the IT Investment Review Board: Formalizing command-wide governance to evaluate 100% of new IT spending against cloud-native criteria and begin harvesting legacy sustainment savings.
- Foundational Curriculum Integration: Initiating the baseline integration of data and AI literacy standards into Basic Military Training (BMT) and initial technical training doctrine, alongside formalizing Special Experience Identifiers (SEIs) to track Airmen with advanced digital competencies.
Source: AETC
By the end of these efforts, AETC expects to produce “Digital Airmen” through its education and training.
“AETC is integrating basic data and AI literacy standards into 100 percent of its core training pipelines—from Basic Military Training through Professional Military Education,” according to the release. “The command is also formalizing digital skills certifications to help Airmen track, develop, and leverage tech talents throughout their careers.”